"It was meant to happen this way," says Shaun Wright-Phillips, on one of the open-top buses about to embark on its journey around Manchester in the middle of a thunderstorm.
He was talking about Manchester City's treble win and Champions League success, but could easily have been referring to the very-Mancunian way that Monday's trophy parade unfolded. Moments after Wright-Phillips reflected on an 'extraordinary' weekend of celebrations, the heavens opened, and wouldn't close until the parade was done and the fireworks had gone off in St Peter's Square. Still, the party continued despite the relentless downpour.
Wright-Phillips was in Istanbul to see City end their search for a Champions League title thanks to Rodri's winner, completing a historic treble and adding another major trophy to the collection. He joined the team celebrations on the pitch, chatting with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and attended the squad's after-party at the team hotel.
"It was the one thing everybody keeps saying - 'oh, are they an elite club because they haven't won the Champion League'. Now that conversation's gone, now what can people say?" Wright-Phillips told MEN Sport from the front of the Asahi bus that joined the parade.
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"City have shown their worth on many a level. Now they're just taking another level to win the treble which only one other team has done."
After coming through the City academy, Wright-Phillips played over 200 times for the club across two spells spanning 12 years. He can now be seen on the club's Matchday Live and commercial operations, and that is how he watched the Champions League final alongside two figures who were with him at the beginning of his journey.
"On Matchday Live for City, we were jumping around the studio like you wouldn't believe, unbelievable scenes," he said. "There was emotion, tears, not frustration but it was like shaking a fizzy drink and you open it and that's exactly how it was.
"I was talking with Nedum [Onuoha] and Natalie Pike in Turkey. I always remember, Nedum was my ball boy. I played with Nedum Onuoha for Man City. The year I won my first Young Player of the Year award for the first team, I had to go to Natalie's house after she won FHM and invite her to our Christmas party. For all three of us to be in Istanbul, working together again on that moment when history is made is incredible."
Wright-Phillips backed City to continue winning trophies, saying he wouldn't change anything of their journey to becoming European Champions.
"Everything was done the right way, the timing of it, when it happened," he explained. "It was meant to happen the way it happened. I wouldn't change anything, the way it's gone has happened for all the right reasons. The way Sheikh Mansour has done it and Khaldoon, they've done it perfectly.
"The players they've brought in have been perfect for the fans and the club. The way Pep wants to play football, Pep's been phenomenal. As well as the staff behind it all that people don't really talk about. They make it easy for the players to play football without worrying about anything. It's a massive help.
"I think we can do it again. I don't know when. But I believe in the team that we play. It won't be easy, the Premier League is such a demanding league. If they do that and are in the final stages of everything else, then I think 100 per cent."
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